Trip aims to boost trade, economic ties, defence cooperation and people-to-people exchanges
President Asif Ali Zardari. Photo: File
President Asif Ali Zardari will embark on an official visit to Bahrain from January 13 to 16, accompanied by a high-level delegation.
According to the Foreign Office post on X, the president is scheduled to hold talks with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The meetings will focus on strengthening bilateral relations, as well as discussing regional and international issues of mutual interest.
The visit aims to deepen Pakistan’s longstanding partnership with Bahrain and explore new avenues of cooperation in trade and economic engagement, defence and security, and people-to-people exchanges, says the FO.
Pakistan–Bahrain economic ties have gained momentum in recent months. On November 26, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Bahrain’s King Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa agreed to increase bilateral trade to one billion US dollars within three years—one of the most ambitious economic targets set between the two countries to date.
Read: Pakistan, Bahrain set sights on $1b trade target
The commitment was made during talks at Qasr Al-Qudaibiya in Manama, where both leaders placed economic cooperation at the centre of their discussions. Bilateral trade currently exceeds 550 million US dollars, with both sides expressing confidence that growth could be accelerated through the near-finalisation of the Pakistan–GCC Free Trade Agreement and recent visa relaxations to improve business mobility.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also invited Bahraini investors to explore opportunities in food security, information technology, construction, mining and minerals, renewable energy, healthcare, and tourism. The two leaders reviewed defence and security cooperation and agreed to expand collaboration in areas including training, cybersecurity, defence production, information-sharing, and enhanced port-to-port connectivity between Karachi and Gwadar and Bahrain’s Khalifa bin Salman Port to facilitate trade.
